---
title: "Momenta and EACON IPO on the same day: Smart driving bids farewell to \"market dream rate\""
type: "News"
locale: "en"
url: "https://longbridge.com/en/news/292154040.md"
description: "On July 8th, MOMENTA-W and EACON were listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on the same day. On the first day, the stock prices diverged: MOMENTA-W closed at HKD 295.6, flat from the issue price, while EACON rose nearly 10%. Market reactions indicate that the valuation logic in the autonomous driving industry is shifting from chasing grand narratives to focusing on actual profitability and business closure, with capital no longer blindly paying for \"market dream rates.\""
datetime: "2026-07-09T05:58:18.000Z"
locales:
  - [zh-CN](https://longbridge.com/zh-CN/news/292154040.md)
  - [en](https://longbridge.com/en/news/292154040.md)
  - [zh-HK](https://longbridge.com/zh-HK/news/292154040.md)
---

# Momenta and EACON IPO on the same day: Smart driving bids farewell to "market dream rate"

On July 8th, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange welcomed two Chinese autonomous driving companies: intelligent driving solution provider Momenta and mining area autonomous driving company EACON.

The stock price trends quickly diverged on the first day. Momenta opened at HKD 301, peaked at HKD 314.8 during the session, and at one point rose over 6% from the issue price. However, it quickly fell back in the afternoon, ultimately closing at HKD 295.6, flat with the issue price, with a total trading volume of HKD 1.42 billion and a total market capitalization of HKD 69.625 billion.

EACON performed even stronger. The company opened at HKD 91, reached a high of HKD 101.20 during the session, and closed at HKD 96.70, up 9.99% from the issue price, with a trading volume of HKD 683 million and a total market capitalization of HKD 14.299 billion.

Momenta tells the story of "physical AI," passenger car intelligent driving, and lists clients such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Toyota, but the valuation expectations are higher. EACON is deeply rooted in mining scenarios, with clients and shareholders highly overlapping, making the business closed loop easier for the market to understand.

The first-day market performance has fully demonstrated that the capital market is no longer just chasing grand stories. The valuation logic of Chinese autonomous driving companies is shifting from "believing in the space" to "seeing the books clearly."

### 01.414 times subscription, divergence begins after opening

Momenta set a fixed price of HKD 295.6 per share without a price range, which usually indicates that the issuer has considerable confidence in the subscription enthusiasm. The results confirmed this judgment, with Momenta's public offering portion oversubscribed by 413.63 times, and the international offering attracted over HKD 100 billion in institutional orders, covering sovereign funds and long-term funds from 15 countries and regions, with 14 cornerstone investors collectively subscribing to approximately 9,960,080 shares, accounting for about 49.95% of the global offering shares, including Mercedes-Benz as an existing shareholder participating in the subscription.

EACON is much smaller in scale, with a subscription range of HKD 81.16 to HKD 87.92, ultimately raising about HKD 2.3 billion at the upper limit price, with cornerstone investors such as Zijin Mining and a fund under XCMG collectively subscribing to about USD 146 million. Its start was not very impressive; the dark trading on the night before listing had an average trading price of HKD 87.07, below the issue price, and at one point dipped nearly 20%, closing with only a 4% increase, with a fluctuation close to 25%, showing clear long-short divergence.

However, after officially listing, the situation reversed. Momenta surged from the opening price of HKD 301 to HKD 314.8, then continued to decline, falling back to the issue price by the afternoon, even dipping below the issue price at one point. EACON, on the other hand, rose steadily from the opening price of HKD 91, reaching a high of HKD 101.2 during the session, ultimately closing with an increase of 9.99% Of course, compared to this year's Hong Kong stock market where new stocks often double, even a nearly double-digit increase for EACON cannot be considered a "surge." The core reason is that both companies are still incurring massive losses; the market is willing to pay for scale and market share, but it also reminds us that the next step in valuation depends on who can balance the books first.

Among similar companies clustered in the Hong Kong stock market this year, Horizon has seen an increase from its issuance price, but it has already retraced over 60% from its peak. XPeng and WeRide have both fallen below their issuance prices.

The pricing logic in this sector is being recalibrated.

### 02\. Momenta is unwilling to be overshadowed by EACON

Momenta was founded in 2016 by Cao Xudong, along with Xia Yan, Sun Gang, and Sun Huan, summarizing its strategy as "one flywheel, two legs": one leg is mass-produced intelligent driving solutions, while the other leg is now redefined as "Scalable Robo," covering Robovan, Robotruck, and Robotaxi.

Financially, Momenta's revenue is projected to grow from 743 million yuan in 2023 to 2.413 billion yuan in 2025, with a compound annual growth rate exceeding 80%. The gross profit margin is expected to increase from 17.5% to 71.6% during the same period.

After excluding non-operating factors such as changes in the fair value of preferred shares, the adjusted net loss has narrowed from 1.09 billion yuan in 2023 to about 300 million yuan in 2025. Although still in the red, this performance is still considered quite good within the industry.

According to Cao Xudong, this is a result of industry dynamics. He predicts that the third-party market for high-level assisted driving in China will likely end up with only two or three players, and globally, three to four.

His logic is that first-mover advantages and scale advantages will self-reinforce. Leading companies first acquire product capabilities, then achieve larger production scales, revenues, and gross profits, allowing them to continuously invest in R&D. The second-tier customers are fewer, with fewer models and pressured pricing, which will quickly lead to a cycle of falling behind in R&D and widening product gaps. He believes that the window for changing the landscape is closing and "is already happening." **The "second and third-tier" companies waiting to go public include Lightyear and Yuanrong Qixing, and the upcoming pressure is indeed significant.** This is also the underlying logic behind Momenta's repositioning this year. At the Beijing Auto Show in April, Momenta launched the R7 world model, branding itself as a "physical AI" company. Cao Xudong revealed that the R7 validated one thing: the same world model can simultaneously support multiple downstream applications such as mass-produced passenger cars, Robovan, Robotruck, and Robotaxi, which is a higher level of versatility compared to the previous migration only between mass production and Robotaxi.

However, there are voices in the industry pointing out that this "world model" is essentially still an autonomous driving technology stack, and whether it can truly extend beyond driving scenarios remains to be verified. XPeng, Nio, and ZEEKR are also betting on similar directions, and the track is not unique to Momenta. Momenta's self-developed chips are just starting, and the main mass production solution still relies on NVIDIA chips, with "soft and hard integration" execution risks not being low.

It is worth noting that Cao Xudong did not prioritize Robotaxi at the top. He ranked Momenta's Robo business for the next five years: Robovan first, Robotruck second, and Robotaxi third. This is because the demand for urban logistics and bulk logistics is more solid, with less competition, and the commercial closed loop is easier to run than the heavily regulated urban Robotaxi.

In the Robotaxi business, Momenta also does not intend to create its own mobility platform or self-operated fleet, but rather provide "autonomous driving drivers" to platforms like Didi and Gaode, earning service commissions. Even while telling the most attractive "physical AI" story, what Momenta truly wants to maintain is the position of a technology supplier, rather than reinventing itself as a car manufacturer or mobility platform.

Cao Xudong also mentioned in an interview with LatePost that one of the considerations being discussed is that the most important strategic goal of this IPO is not financing, but rather brand and trust.

His own words are that Momenta currently has "decent reputation, but average recognition," **with public awareness far less than that of Huawei and Tesla**. Intelligent driving has transformed from a behind-the-scenes capability into a configuration that consumers can perceive and are willing to pay for. If third-party suppliers continue to remain hidden behind car manufacturers, it will be difficult to gain bargaining power in the next round of competition.

### 03\. The accounts in the mines are easier to calculate

If Momenta's story takes place under the spotlight, the battlefield of EACON is completely the opposite. There are no urban roads, only dust, slopes, and a continuous fleet of mining trucks.

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Longyan, Fujian, this company integrates autonomous driving into mining trucks, replacing drivers to complete loading, transportation, and unloading operations. Mines have long been short of labor and face difficulties in recruitment, and they are also high-risk areas for safety accidents. After the Alashan coal mine accident in 2023, regulations have tightened significantly, forming a solid demand foundation for this business.

Its advantage lies in not needing to educate consumers and not having to wait for urban road opening policies. Autonomous driving in mining areas corresponds to a clear account for mine owners: fewer drivers hired, fewer accidents, and more efficient transportation. Compared to Robotaxi, which has to handle passenger experience, urban regulation, platform sharing, and safety public opinion simultaneously, the closed, fixed-route, and rigid demand mining scenarios are closer to the business logic of industrial software and operational services Input-output calculations are also easier to measure.

As of the end of 2025, EACON operates 2,580 active autonomous mining trucks, making it the only company in the world to deploy a scaled fleet of over 2,500 vehicles, with a market share of approximately 37.6% by revenue, firmly in first place. The company is also transitioning from a "heavy asset" model of purchasing vehicles to a "light asset" model that only outputs software technology, with the latter's revenue share increasing from 41.7% in 2023 to 56.8% in 2025.

Financially, revenue has increased from 271 million yuan to 1.435 billion yuan over three years, with a critical turning point in profitability quality. EACON's gross margin improved from -18.6% in 2023 to 10.1% in 2025. In 2025, the company's EBITDA remains at -224 million yuan, with adjusted EBITDA at -193 million yuan, and adjusted net loss widening from 303 million yuan in 2024 to 484 million yuan.

The risks are also apparent, with cumulative losses of approximately 1.24 billion yuan over three years, and the top five customers contributing 60% to 90% of revenue, with only 245 million yuan in cash at the end of last year. Zijin Mining is both a cornerstone investor and a downstream customer, with the moat largely coming from the scenario data accumulated through deep binding with mining giants.

### 04\. Ultimately, it comes down to the profit and loss statement

In the past, "Huawei targets the high-end, Momenta occupies the mid-range" was an industry-recognized understanding. Huawei binds with Aito, Enjoy, and Zhijie models in the mid-to-high-end segment, while Momenta captures a broader territory among car manufacturers. According to data from Zosi Automotive Research, as of April 2026, Huawei and Momenta together hold approximately 72.8% of the market share in China's third-party urban NOA (standard + embedded) market. However, the boundaries within this pattern are becoming increasingly blurred as Huawei moves downward, Momenta moves downward, and Horizon also moves downward.

Huawei's QianKun ADS has this year broken its solutions into four levels: SE, Pro, Max, and Ultra, progressively lowering the price range.

The SE basic version is a pure visual solution, focusing on high-speed NCA and parking, and has already penetrated the 130,000 yuan vehicle segment, such as the Deep Blue L07 (starting at 135,900 yuan after discounts) and the Shangjie H5 Pro (starting at 159,800 yuan).

The Pro enhanced version adds cabin laser vision, bringing urban NCA capabilities, which were originally only available in vehicles priced over 300,000 yuan, down to the 150,000 to 200,000 yuan price range. The Wuling Huajing S is fully equipped with this feature and offers it for free for life, making it the most representative model in this price segment Huawei is no longer just focusing on the high-end market but aims to transform advanced intelligent driving from an "optional feature" to a "standard feature," bringing it from the "exclusive for over 300,000" segment into the mainstream family car market.

On the other hand, this sector has also seen significant clearing over the past year. Hedo Technology has gone bankrupt and is undergoing liquidation, Zongmu Technology is in judicial reorganization, and Momenta suddenly halted operations and took a break last November. Even the financials of listed peers are generally not looking good, with WeRide accumulating losses of over 5.1 billion yuan over three and a half years, and Horizon accumulating losses of 22.6 billion yuan from 2021 to the first half of 2024. During the IPO period, Pony.ai experienced two incidents of autonomous vehicles changing lanes in June, prompting the market to reassess the valuation logic of intelligent driving. Accident rates and safety redundancies are becoming key factors, which may also be one reason why investors are particularly selective about the two new stocks.

Cao Xudong provided a more specific timeline. This year, Momenta may still incur strategic losses, but they will be narrower than last year, aiming for breakeven next year and profitability the year after. This timeline is not easy, as R&D investment is still increasing; he estimates that this year, around 200 million dollars will be invested in GPUs, 400 million next year, and possibly up to 1.6 billion the year after.

Momenta is not naturally sliding into profitability but must walk a tightrope between vehicle deployment scale, gross profit release, and increased R&D investment. The key milestone he provided is that from 2028 to 2029, the cumulative number of serviced vehicles must jump from just over 1 million now to 10 million, which he believes will be the turning point for the Robo market, with the industry scale potentially growing tenfold within two years.

In March of this year, Momenta's valuation in the primary market was reported to exceed 100 billion yuan, while this IPO is priced at about 69.6 billion yuan. Even with a 414 times public subscription, the pricing still shows a significant discount compared to primary market expectations, which is a common phenomenon of "value inversion between primary and secondary markets" in the industry.

Huawei aims to turn advanced intelligent driving from a high-end configuration into a standard capability for mid-range vehicles. Momenta is attempting to extend from passenger cars to logistics, mining, Robotaxi, and even embodied intelligence, while maintaining its position as a third-party supplier. The ultimate question remains: when intelligent driving is no longer scarce, how will technology suppliers survive?

The answer given on the first day of listing was not enthusiastic; investors are willing to give leading companies time but will no longer buy into a story unconditionally

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